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Note: This review addresses v3.0 of the software.

Business users who want the desktop searching power of Copernic have a new option: Copernic Desktop Search Professional 3.0. This application bridges the gap between Copernic's free Home version (designed for use only in non-corporate settings) and the $60 Corporate version, which includes features for managed deployments in an enterprise setting.

Copernic Desktop Search Professional includes all the same excellent searching features found in the Home version: It indexes the contents of your computer upon initial installation, lets you search more than 150 common file types, and displays your results in a clear, easy-to-understand manner.

The Professional version adds the ability to search appointments, tasks, and notes in Outlook; the Home version only searches the contents of e-mail messages and attachments. Proalso adds the ability to search network drives. Despite this added feature, the initial indexing process took about the same amount of time--about an hour--when using both Home and Professional.

Another nice feature in Professional is the lack of advertisements. Both Home and Professional have a preview pane at the bottom of the interface, which allows you to quickly scan the contents of the files that the application finds for you. When it's not in use, the Home version takes advantage of this space to show an ad for the Professional version or to hawk Copernic's Web searching features. But in the Professional version, it remains nicely empty.

Other added features in the Professional version are the ability to save searches, the inclusion of Copernic's customer support, and the ability to see search results as you're typing. Overall, $50 seems a bit steep for this application--especially compared to the free Home version. But if you're a business user who doesn't need all the enterprise-level features in the Corporate version, Professional is a nice middle ground.

--Liane Cassavoy